It all began with one indoor rubber tree plant. When it started to look gangly, I cut it back and stuck the cuttings in water to see what would happen. You can read about the rubber tree trimming here. Many of the cuttings did root and I simply planted them in the ground. A few never rooted for whatever reason.
Cuttings in water
I ended up with four rooted stems which I planted straight into the dirt outside. I’m finding that my rubber tree babies are growing wonderfully in my Florida yard. But is there a drawback to having rubber trees in the yard?
It’s the end of 2018 and I have decided to share some recent yard happenings. One of my orchids is blooming. My orchids don’t look too good, so I was surprised to see two blooms on one of my plants.
My orchid is blooming!
The orange hibiscus plant is growing like mad! I have neglected this plant and am frankly amazed it is doing so well. I’m planning a new garden along the front of the house and another hibiscus is in the plans.
The hibiscus is huge now!
One of the plants you must have if you are a true Floridian is a Staghorn fern! And now I have one hanging from the trees out back. I had a Staghorn fern which I gave to my best friend before I left Florida and she still has it hanging in her yard. She offered to give it back, but her yard is much nicer, and if the plant is happy there then I’m happy to leave it with her. Â This new one is in a pot but I will re-pot it into that hanging basket eventually.
My new little stag horn fern
The rubber plant I propagated  is still growing nicely out front under the oak. If I can keep it from freezing over winter it may grow and live to be tall and beautiful.
New little rubber plant in the yard
Hope you have fond memories of 2018 and the new year brings all good things!
Rubber Trees are something you see a lot of here in Florida. They are tropical plants and don’t like the cold. They work well as house plants, but I’ve seen them growing outdoors here and can become quite large. They are susceptible to scorching sun which damages the leaves, and don’t like extreme cold.
I love the uniqueness of this tree with it’s thick, rubbery leaves which are dark green to purple in color. A reddish spike appears when a new leaf grows. These plants are hardy, but keep them out of the hot sun or the leaves will burn.
To keep a nice shape, the rubber tree will need pruning. To give it a good “bath” I take it outside and spray dust off the leaves. I can also give the dirt lots of water and some fertilizer. It’s possible to do that year round here.
I noticed the plant had a lot of new growth making the stems quite long. I’ve never pruned a rubber plant, but decided to give it a try.
Rubber tree in need of pruning
I ended up cutting back two stems to even up the shape a bit. If possible, I try to root cuttings (propagate) I take of large plants like this. When I searched online for info I got the general “use rooting compound” advice. I’ve never had luck using rooting compound. So I decided to do it my way.
My favorite way to create new plants from cuttings is to simply put the cuttings in water and wait for roots to develop. The water must be changed often – I do it every day. I’ve had good luck propagating crotons this way, but it doesn’t work for every plant. I’ve never tried to root rubber plant cuttings, so this was an experiment.
The rubber plant has white sap in the stems which is sticky, which is similar to what you see in hydrangea stems. The hydrangea stems can close up due to this white sap and make the cuttings wilt. (Read more about cutting hydrangeas.)
I kept an eye on the rubber plant cuttings and saw no drooping or signs of distress in the vase.
After a while – probably close to 2 weeks – I saw roots developing on one of the stems.
After a few weeks in water – roots!
I will be potting this soon. The other stem has not begun to send off roots, and I’m not sure it will. But I’ll wait a bit longer to see. (It never did and I gave up.)
The main plant is sending off little shoots near the site of the cutting. I only see one shoot, so whoever the cut is made is where the new growth will take place – at the next leaf on the stem. Keep that in mind when making the cut.
New growth from the stem that was cut.
A new leaf unfurls in a pretty green color. It will eventually turn dark like the older leaves. My next chore will be to re-pot into something bigger. First, I may take a few more cuttings to further shape the tree.
Pretty new leaf emerging.
If the plant is too large to take outside and wash, use a damp cloth and clean the leaves every now and then. Be sure to fertilize it occasionally as well. I like to use organic fish emulsion diluted in water.
Planting the Rooted Rubber Tree Cutting
I planted the rooted cutting in my front yard under an Oak tree (see photo below). So far it is doing well without much attention from me.
Having plants beneath a tree help give it shade (obviously) but also keep it protected from wind and cold. Plants that grow near other plants can survive cold overnight temperatures better, and being in the shade means less watering.
When the temperature will be close to, or below, freezing I will cover this little plant with a towel overnight. It’s was 38 degrees the other night, and the rubber tree baby looks fine and I did not cover it.
For those who don’t know, when you cover plants over night be sure to remove the cover in the morning! Leaving them covered is not good.
Hydrangeas Blue 